- Conference
- 2008 National LGBT Conference
- Date
- 24 July 2008
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that homophobic bullying causes permanent damage to young people and blights the schools and colleges where it takes place. Conference further notes that homophobia affects all pupils, students and staff regardless of their sexual orientation.
Conference recognises that state schools in England and Wales have a duty of care to ensure the safety and to protect the emotional wellbeing of every person in their care and that schools in Scotland must have an annual plan to encourage equal opportunities. Conference further recognises that teachers are free to discuss homophobia with their students in their classrooms, especially as Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which never applied to schools, was repealed in 2003.
Conference believes that the devolved governments throughout the United Kingdom (UK) should include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) equality education in their school curriculum. Conference further believes that schools and colleges need to protect their pupils, students and staff from homophobic bullying but are not doing enough to tackle the problem of homophobic bullying. Conference also believes that effective interventions involve the entire school or college community rather than just focusing on traditional notions of perpetrators and their victims.
Conference requires the National LGBT Committee to:
1.Campaign for the devolved governments across the UK to include LGBT equality education in the school curriculum. This will inevitably involve working across the devolved parts of the UK;
2.Publicly support the Stonewall ‘Education for All’ Campaign.